The Whipping Man at MTC
I have written many times that Manhattan Theater Club consistently puts on good theater. Last night's performance of The Whipping Man might have been one of the best things I have seen there or at least at the top of the list.
A cast of three particularly good actors; Andre Holland, Jay Wilkison and Andre Braugher who are all veterans and award winners in theater. The play is incredibly well written by Matthew Lopez.
The play takes place in 1865 in a burnt out house at the end of the civil war. Three men find themsevles back in this house looking for shelter. One is the son of the home owner and the other two are slaves that he grew up with. The house master (chef and chief bottle washer) and one of the children that grew up there that did chores but was basically the playmate of the son. All of them were raised Jewish in this household including the slaves.
Over the course of the play secrets are revealed and over the Passover seder everything comes to a head. The Passover segment is so powerful and the connections to slavery and Judasim left everyone in the theater just praising the play and the performances as the curtain went down.
Go see it!
Comments (Archived):
great tip, thanks. getting tix….now!
so good.
Thank’s for the suggestion. I’ll get tickets.
I saw this last night and it’s simply spectacular. Rich yet flawed characters develop and unfold nicely as the tempo builds to a surprising end with twists and turns. The talented cast of three is powerful and perfectly cast for Matthew Lopez’s outstanding piece. I hope to see this again before it’s gone.
I’d love to see it again. It will be interesting to see if they extend theplay.